Neurodivergent Cafe

Hey y'all,

I thought I'd make a post today because it's Thanksgiving, a holiday that is difficult for a lot of people, regardless of whether or not we're neurodivergent.

But if you are also ND...

[North Dakota??? Okay, if you're using text to speech like me, obviously I don't mean North Dakota!!! Let's try that again. If you're neurodivergent...]

... in multiple ways it might be even harder to do holidays, because the usual advice around setting your boundaries on holidays for social interactions, food, and other self-care needs might look different for you. For example, I am AuDHD (pronounced 'awe D H D'), among other things. That means that I'm autistic and ADHD. So my overwhelm / burnout cycle doesn't look like either ADHD or autism alone.

For me, the strong drive to "be productive" the moment I've had a few minutes rest is not a useful impulse. It's a harmful ADHD impulse to feel good by "being productive", mixed with a life-long need to prove that I'm NOT actually "lazy" after all.

So, I'm sharing my note-to-self incase it helps someone else:

BE "LAZY"!!!!! Because you're NOT being lazy at all!!! This is healing work.

Rest only helps if you actually rest! So rest.

Happy rest, everyone! 🙂 ☕️